It’s not because I wore an eye mask or had a white noise machine on. It’s because I finally got some quality sheets.

Good bed sheets are comfy, but really good ones actually improve the quality of your sleep by being light, soft, breathable, and cozy as sh*t. But they’re usually really freakin’ expensive. Some high-end sheet sets cost more than I paid for my mattress. I could never justify the expenditure to myself.

Enter... Brooklinen

Brooklinen is a startup bedsheet manufacturer that makes insanely high-quality stuff at an extremely affordable price. Founded in 2014, they’re the first Triple-A-Quality sheet company with a direct-to-consumer business model. That means you get top-tier, world-class product at a price that actually makes sense.

Think Harry’s Razors, but for sheets.

The Brooklinen Advantage

I'm going to be real with you: most companies selling bed sheets are tricking you. They’re manipulating thread counts (more on that later) and overcharging you. And most of them just simply don’t make a very good product.

What makes Brooklinen different?

They Are Comfy As Hell

There are a few factors at play that make Brooklinen sheets as comfy as they are. But let’s start at the start: the materials they use.

Short-staple vs. long-staple cotton.

Most companies use short-staple cotton because it’s cheaper. But not Brooklinen.

The longer the staple, the more comfy the material. Simple as that. Allow me to provide you with a crude diagram:

Short-staple cotton: \____\/____\/____\/____/

Long-staple cotton: \__________\/__________/

As you can see from my expertly crafted scientific illustration, the short-staple cotton’s fibers are more prone to poking out of the weave, creating a scratchy and uncomfortable bedtime experience. But the long-staple. Oh man, the long-staple. Those ample fibers stay in their weave lane and produce silky-smooth, buttery-soft fabrics.

Single-Ply vs. Multi-ply Threads

To compensate for short-staple, uncomfortable cotton, a lot of sheet manufacturers just wrap a whole bunch of low-quality threads together to make a single, stronger fiber. Think of how a rope is a bunch of different threads twisted together to make a single piece.

This makes the fibers stronger and more resilient, but also makes ‘em super coarse and heavy. You’ll never get that light, airy feel you’re after with multi-ply yarn.

But Brooklinen uses single-ply yarn. It’s way lighter, way softer, and can only be spun with long-staple cotton. So, as with anything, if you start with a quality foundation for what you’re building, you’ll be able to produce better results throughout the whole process.

Thread Count

For most people, myself included, thread count is pretty much the only metric used to measure the quality of sheets. Before researching this article, I basically thought that the higher the thread count, the better the sheet.

Turns out that’s totally wrong.

Sneaky manufacturers use falsified numbers to inflate their thread count, in order to dupe unwitting consumers into thinking their sheets are the bomb.

NOT SO.

Remember when we talked about single-vs-multi-ply yarns? So, devious sheetmakers include the individual threads that comprise their multi-ply yarns when calculating the thread count. Sheetmakers with integrity refer only to the actual intact yarns when counting it up.

So if you see some 800-count sheets at a discount store for $40, what you’re really paying for is a 200-count, multiplied by the four low-quality fibers that went into their multi-ply yarn.

That’s just bad business.

Brooklinen, and other sheet companies worth their salt, only count the finished threads. You know, the ones that actually make a difference in how it feels.

That means that the 480-thread-count Brooklinen Luxe sheet is pretty nuts. If you calculate the thread count honestly, anything above 400 is in extreme-luxury-territory. If they dabbled in misleading advertising practices, they’d call it a 1600 thread count.

But they don’t. ‘Cause they’re not in the business of tricking people into buying their products. They’re in the business of letting a truly-high-quality sheet speak for itself.

Risk-Free Warranty

Usually when you buy shit like sheets or underwear or anything else that your naked body is gonna touch, it’s final sale.

You buy it, and you hope you like it, cuz that’s it: no chance to return, no opportunity for buyer’s remorse.

But not with Brooklinen.

They give you a full 60-night warranty. If you don’t like ‘em, you just send ‘em back. That simple. Oh, and if you do like them? They come with a lifetime warranty on their sheets and comforters, meaning Brooklinen stands behind the quality of their products

Ethical Business Practices

Most small companies are owned by bigger companies who emphasize profits over people, over the environment, and even over their own customers.

And that's important, because the quality of your sheets depends not just on the raw materials but on the people who manufacture them. Consider this quote, from Brooklinen founder Vicki Fulop:

"We have also chosen to work with partners who are located in developed countries that have free trade agreements with the United States. This enables us to avoid paying tariffs on the sheets we import, while also ensuring that our partners manufacture responsibly and treat their workers fairly."

That means you can rest easy knowing your comforter was made by people paid an ethical wage — no common thing, these days!

But… Do People Like ‘Em?

First of all, Brooklinen was funded on Kickstarter. That means that thousands of people thought their business model and product was good enough to invest in. Second of all, they’ve got over 12,000 5-star reviews of their sheets. Yup, twelve thousand.

Honestly, do a quick Google search for Brooklinen’s name. The first thing you’ll see, of course, is their website. But the next 20 results are gonna be insanely positive reviews.

My Favorite Part

Let me just say that Brooklinen has already won this game by paying attention to one crucial detail. It’s so simple. But the most genius ideas often are.

How many times have you put your fitted sheet on your mattress, only to realize that the corners don’t line up?

On the inside of the Brooklinen fitted sheet, there is a tag that tells you which is the long side and which is the short side. REPEAT: THEY TELL YOU WHICH WAY TO PUT THE SHEET ON SO YOU DON’T HAVE TO STRUGGLE WITH IT FOR 20 MINUTES BEFORE YOU GO TO BED.

Let’s Review

If you answer “yes” to any of the following questions, you need Brooklinen sheets in your life.

Do you care about who makes your sheets, and where they’re made?

Do you want to sleep better tonight?

Do you like getting really high-quality products for cheap?

Does your bedroom decor need an upgrade?

That’s 4 for 4 for me. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going back to bed.